


Kiss the Girl

by CloudMonkey



Category: Naruto
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Humor, I update this yearly so savor each letter and word, Non-Massacre AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-21
Updated: 2018-10-21
Packaged: 2019-08-05 07:37:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,574
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16363652
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CloudMonkey/pseuds/CloudMonkey
Summary: On the contrary, Sasuke doesn't dislike Sakura. He's just a shy boy who's a little in love.





	1. Operation Greet Haruno Sakura

_8 years old_

Sasuke is almost at his seat when Sakura greets him.

"Good morning, Sasuke-kun," Her voice is soft and a smile is on her face.

He freezes.

He and Sakura have been classmates for a long time and he still gets nervous around her. He doesn't understand why his face burns whenever she's near and why his heart beats abnormally whenever she talks to him. All he knows is that maybe- just _maybe_ \- he doesn't mind the confusing feelings that she somehow brings out of him.

He braves himself to greet her. He wants to give her a smile or a wave, to make her like him a little more, to have her talk to him more, but he is afraid that if he does, it may come out weird (because he has already practiced in front of a mirror every day, and stretching his lips to a smile looks forced and awkward)and Sakura will avoid him. He doesn't want that.

He settles for the usual nod, wishing to have the courage to return her greeting with the same enthusiasm.

"Sakura."

He curses himself for being too shy.

He commits the sunny smile he receives to memory before sitting in contentment.

Operation Greet Haruno Sakura success for the day _._

* * *

 _She's crying_. Sasuke thinks as he hides himself behind a tree.

He doesn't know what happened. A while ago, after the teacher dismissed them, he went to the bathroom to do his business. When he came back, all he could hear were jeers and insults about a large forehead. He was at the door when Sakura came out running, looking as if she'd cry.

He followed her and now he's not sure what to do. So he stays, his heart feeling as if being stabbed mercilessly every time she whimpers and wails.

_I… think I should comfort her._

He takes a small step forward before chickening out and running to a tree farther from the previous one.

He moves stealthily, like the ninja he will be, and peeks at the crying girl. He averts his eyes immediately because something traitorous inside him wants to lose control and hug her- or cry with her. He pushes the dangerous thought out of his mind.

 _I can't just leave without making her feel a little bit better._ Sasuke tells himself that the only reason why he even bothers is because he's a good kid. Not because she's very special to him. No. Of course not, he persuades himself, feeling a little satisfied.

He looks at her crying figure once more, wondering what to do. Should he give her food? Call her parents? Or take revenge on their classmates for her?

Then he remembers his mother and her words of wisdom.

" _Words can move mountains,"_ Uchiha Mikoto once said to him. He doesn't know what it means exactly but it certainly sounds like a life lesson to him. And that it uses words.

So he'll just say some words and… yeah. Sounds like a good plan.

He clutches his chest trying calm his quickly beating heart. He slowly takes a shaky step forward. Then another one. And another. Until he finally finds himself in front of her.

Sakura has her knees raised to her chest, her head resting on them and hands clasped at her feet. It is such a pitiful sight that Sasuke almost wanted to copy her position and join her.

"…Sakura."

She lifts her head slowly to see Sasuke fidgeting, his expression coming off as someone who wants to be anywhere but there. She wonders if he's here to continue bullying her. She wouldn't be surprised.

She sniffs hatefully.

"What do you want? Come to bully me more?" Her voice is trembling but she needs to act tough. A future ninja isn't allowed to cry every time someone bullies them. This will be the only and last exception.

Sasuke's eyes widen.

"They bullied you?" he asks, shocked.

Sakura is confused. _He didn't know? Then why is he here?_

"Yeah. Weren't you there when they were making fun of my humongous forehead?" she replies bitterly.

"No."

They made fun of her forehead? His eyes quickly shoot forward to inspect it and he thinks that it isn't _that_ big. It's larger than the average ones but didn't people always say that larger foreheads house smarter brains? So his classmates bullied Sakura because she is smarter than they are?

What jealous eggheads.

Sasuke doesn't know what to say yet so he settles for uncomfortable silence, gathering comforting words in his mind to tell Sakura after he gets the courage to. Sakura breaks that silence.

"Will you please leave me alone for a while?" she says quietly. She wants to be alone for now, wallowing in sorrow before crushing it and getting ready to face tomorrow with a smile. Now that's a nice thought.

She turns to Sasuke who seems to be focusing on something. He's staring at the ground with utmost concentration.

 _Comforting words. Comforting words. Saycomfortingwordscomfortingwords._ Sasuke repeats the mantra over and over in his head that when he opened his mouth, he almost blurted out _'comforting words'_ instead of what he was supposed to say.

 _Idiot_ is what he thought to himself.

"Idiot," is what he also said out loud.

Both of them freeze.

Both of them stare at each other for a long time until Sakura says, "…Did you just call me an idiot?"

_No! Nonononono! Of course not! That was for me! I'm the idiot! Whywhywhywhy! WHY?_

Though his heart rate has sped up to dangerous levels, none of his turmoil is apparent on his face. In fact, his whole demeanour is calm, as if nothing potentially relationship damaging is happening with the girl he almost-like-likes.

He needs to fix this awful mistake, say that she heard wrong. Be smooth. Be- uh- persuasive. And suave. _Damn it._ He's panicking.

Confidence.

Charm.

He vaguely hears his mother's voice saying, " _Think the words and become it_."

He takes a deep breath and-

"Of course not. You will never be an idiot in my eyes." That sounded cool in his head but Sasuke clearly underestimated his stupidity because what tumbled out of his mouth was, "Of course. You were always an idiot in my eyes."

_SHIIIIIIIT._

Sakura looks angry and offended. Her eyes are blazing with the dark fires of Amaterasu that Sasuke had to take a step back from her frightening glare. She thought he was a decent human being because he did not say anything demeaning to her forehead like everybody had. But instead, he insults her intelligence when she was already hurt, not unlike rubbing salt into a gaping wound.

She stands up suddenly. Sakura seems to forget her earlier sadness as rage comes off her in waves.

"I'm not an idiot! I'm smart and I'm going to be a ninja!" she declared.

Sasuke agrees wholeheartedly but because of his nerves, he can't seem to get it across. He came here to stop her from crying and he definitely succeeded. Just not in the way he liked.

He then becomes agitated because he only wanted to help her and he messed up.

He answers her, the words not registering in his mind anymore.

"If you're going to be a ninja then why were you crying? Ninjas aren't supposed to be crybabies, you know." He curses himself over and over but he can't take the words back anymore. If he's going to help her stop crying then he has no choice but to do it in this silly, unconventional way, even if it hurts both him and her.

"Ninjas hide their emotions to be strong. Crying only means you're weak. If you can't control even that then your career as a ninja is finished before it's even started," Sasuke finishes both his speech and their barely there friendship.

He can almost see himself popping a tiny bubble labelled 'friendship with Sakura'.

Woe is he.

Sakura thinks over his words and realizes that he is not wrong. If she were older she would tell him maturely that he is a correct bastard. But she is a child so she leaves the 'correct' part and uses child swear words.

"I hate you, chicken-butt-hair!"

Hm? What are those broken shards on the ground? What do you mean they're Sasuke's heart?

She continues and- _oh_. The shards are beneath Sakura's feet now.

"I'm going to be the most revered kunoichi of all time, crybaby or not! Just you wait, Sasuke!" She stomps off to go wherever Sasuke isn't, leaving him to mourn. Not that she knows.

But hey, at least the tears in her eyes are dried up now.

After her departure, Sasuke curls up in the position he first found Sakura in.

It's his turn to cry.

* * *

Meters away behind a tree, Itachi is caught smiling in amusement with a mix of pity. He gives his younger brother a few minutes before taking him home _._

* * *

_The next day_

Sasuke is already at his seat when Sakura greets him.

"Good morning, Sasuke." Her voice is tense and there is no smile on her face. She greets him, nonetheless.

He does his usual nod, hoping to have the courage to smile like she did yesterday (" _But not today_ ," a voice that sounded like him whispers pathetically).

"Sakura."

There is no sunny smile to file in his brain. She also removed the honorific from his name.

Operation Greet Haruno Sakura success for the day.

He goes home later, depressed.


	2. Operation Lunchbox

In his hands is a bento. It's black and decorated with cherry blossoms. Inside are hotdogs shaped like an octopus, eggs, some beef, and a cup of rice shaped like a he-heart.

Sasuke's cheeks redden in embarrassment.

Per his mother's orders, he is supposed to give this to Sakura as an apology for his rudeness yesterday.

When Itachi came to pick him up, he had actually seen Sasuke's failure in comforting Sakura! He desperately tried to save face by saying that Sakura wasn't crying anymore so he did a good job but Itachi only laughed at his face. Even worse! Itachi told the whole thing to their mother!

Sasuke wanted to lock himself inside his room.

His mother had an idea to make amends though. She said that the way to a woman's heart is through her tummy. But- but he isn't trying to get Sakura's heart he swears! She's a friend! Well- a soon to be friend. They don't exactly speak often to each other, but they do greet each other every day! They just need a little push and they'll be friends right away, Sasuke is sure.

But what if she refuses the bento? He helped make the octopus-shaped hotdogs, what if she doesn't like it? Wouldn't rejecting the bento mean rejecting his apology? Wouldn't it mean that she's rejecting _him?_

He stares at the bento in horror.

It's not like he really really _really_ likes Sakura for her rejection to matter. She's just a girl with very pretty hair and who's very smart and who smiles like an angel and who he'd like to hold hands with and-

He carefully puts the bento beside him before smacking his face repeatedly to chase his impure thoughts away. He cups his face in his hands to control his blush but his face just won't cool.

You only hold hands with your family and your- your _girlfriend._ Holding hands means that you really really like them _beyond_ friendship and that's _dirty_.

He doesn't like Sakura like that he swearas!

You know what? He'll prove to himself that his feelings for Sakura are _purely friendship_ by giving her the bento and not react whether she accepts it or not. That way, everyone will know that he likes Sakura as a friend, and then maybe he'll even get a smile from her. He likes her smiles.

But… how does he approach her?

He can't just go over there and shove the bento to her face. That's too direct! He needs a plan. Ninjas always have a plan and he's going to be a ninja one day like his brother.

He sneaks a glance at Sakura.

She's sitting by a tree, alone. She hasn't taken her bento out from her backpack yet so he still has time.

Everyday, she goes to that particular tree to leave her backpack first before washing her hands at the washing are far away from the tree. The tree's large trunk hides her from the bullies and Sasuke commends her for finding a good hiding place. Ninjas are supposed to be sneaky and it seems that she has already mastered the art of sneakiness.

Then she comes back, takes her bento out, and eats in silence.

Sasuke knows her routine by heart because he has always wanted to eat with her. He imagines himself approaching her and easily striking up a conversation with her, maybe even sharing food with each other.

He only needs to take a few steps and he'll be by her tree. It's easy. It's really easy. It _should_ be easy.

But his heart just won't calm down!

What if he squeaks when he introduces himself? What if- ah! Oh no! she's leaving the tree! Sasuke needs to make a decision now!

His palms are sweating and when he grabs the bento, it almost slips from his hands.

What should he do?!

He searches for Sakura and panics when she's already at the washing area.

His eyes dart from the bento to her backpack. Bento to backpack. Bento. Backpack.

He makes his decision.

* * *

In his hand is a bento. It's green like her eyes and it's not decorated with cherry blossoms. He doesn't know what's inside because he didn't help make this particular bento.

The bento is Sakura's.

He exchanged his bento with the one inside her backpack.

He did it. He did what her mother told him to do: to give Sakura the cherry blossomed bento as an apology.

He has successfully cleared his mission.

Sasuke sniffs, and rubs his eyes with his sleeve.

_He really wanted to eat with her._


	3. Operation Itachi

“Itachi-san, would you like to join me for lunch?” asks a random girl from the street.

Sasuke and Itachi are on their way home after eating at a restaurant. His brother’s treat, he said, after failing his mission to deliver the bento to Sakura.

He _did not fail_. He _did_ deliver the bento. She just didn’t know it.

Sasuke examines the girl curiously, wondering if she’s sick. She’s blushing to the tips of her ears and she keeps sighing dreamily at Itachi.

“No,” says his brother, before turning away from the girl, leaving.

Sasuke follows after Itachi and jumps in surprise when a ‘ _Kyaaa!_ ’ sound comes out of the girl’s mouth. He looks over his shoulder to see her staring at Itachi with adoring eyes.

What the hell is wrong with her?

“What’s with her?” asks Sasuke.

Itachi glances at him. “What do you mean?”

“Well…” Sasuke says, recalling the girl’s face. “She was red and she kept sighing. And then she made that noise.” He scrunches his nose. “Is she sick?”

Itachi chuckles at his brother’s innocence. “I suppose she likes me.”

“Likes you?”

“Yes. Romantically.”

Now it’s Sasuke’s turn to blush.

Romantic? Like how he likes-?

Sasuke shakes his head furiously.

No no. That’s not how he likes Sakura. He doesn’t blush around her. He doesn’t scream or sigh around her. Sakura’s a friend. She’s a friend.

She. Is. A. Friend.

Then he remembers.

 _Not anymore,_ thinking of the time he accidentally called Sakura an idiot.

He sighs. “How did you get her to like you?” Maybe he needs to work to get Sakura to like him again, have her call him Sasuke-kun again.

He was the only one she addressed with that honorific. Maybe that means something.

His brother _has_ to know how he got that girl to like her.

“I don’t know, otouto.” Sasuke pouts at his answer.

But…

Maybe he could follow his brother around and find out how that girl liked him.

His brother is a great ninja though, so Sasuke has to be as sneaky as he can be.

Right. Operation Itachi will now commence!

* * *

From 6:00 to 9:00 in the morning, Itachi trains himself to death in the training grounds. After that, he leaves the training grounds to go to his favorite vendor to buy dango.

 _Trains early in the morning, likes dango,_ writes Sasuke in his notepad.

He hides behind a tree because this is a covert mission. He has to know why that girl has romantic feelings for his brother so he can make Sakura like him too.

He blushes at the thought.

But enough about that! He has to watch his brother who is still eating dango-

Itachi disappeared!

Sasuke comes out of his hiding place to find him. He looks around to search for long black hair tied to the back but he sees nothing.

He runs to the vendor to ask where his brother went but the vendor only said that he disappeared so suddenly he doesn’t have a clue where he went.

And so Sasuke searches for Itachi for hours. He only finds him again when he hears ‘ _Kyaaa!_ ’

He sees his brother’s figure and takes cover behind a bush. He must not be found or Itachi will make fun of him and tell their mother, who will make fun of him too.

“Itachi-san! Would you please have lunch with me?”

To Sasuke’s confusion, it’s a different girl. Does this mean that his brother is a womanizer?

He gasps in horror. There’s no way his brother would do that!

Itachi probably doesn’t like them back and they’re only bothering him. It’s the only explanation. No way is his brother playing two girls! He’s just popular.

He’s popular… which means that something about his brother is appealing to these people.

But what is it? Will it be the secret to Sakura’s friendship?

He observes his brother and the girl but nothing happens. Itachi just ignores her and goes on his way to wherever he’s headed to.

The girl sighs dreamily. “Oh I do love his hair. And how he’s just ice cold and untouchable. _Kyaaa!_ ”

 _Has long hair, cold and untouchable,_ Sasuke writes down.

He follows after his brother again and sees that he’s ignoring another girl!

Wow. His brother must really be popular.

But then Sasuke blinks and Itachi is gone again.

He groans.

In some place in the village, Itachi laughs at his brother.

* * *

He follows Itachi for days until he finally has the facts that he needs.

Sakura still greets him everyday but the honorific still hasn’t returned. And for some reason, she pauses at his table, as if she has something more she wants to say.

He doesn’t ask what though, because he’s afraid that his stupid mouth will ruin things again.

Now, based on his observation of his brother, girls seem to like his long tied hair. So Sasuke tries to tie his cowlick too, but the band flies away as soon as he attempts to wrestle his hair into submission.

 _ ~~Long tied hair~~_ , he scratches off in his notepad in frustration.

He remembers how Sakura insulted his hair. And him.

_I hate you, chicken butt hair!_

But it’s not his fault that his hair is this way! How will Sakura like him now if it won’t behave?

Though he might still have a chance.

Based on his observations of his brother, girls seem to also like it when they are ignored like his brother did to them. Or act like he doesn’t care.

Yes. He will act like this in front of Sakura. And then she will want to be his friend again.

It might just work.

* * *

“Sasuke, can we talk?” Sakura asks him after class. “Can we speak by the trees?”

That’s where he first saw her cry.

He opens his mouth to say yes, he wants to talk to her too, wants to hear her voice again.

“Y-“ He remembers his observations on his brother. “Hn,” he finishes.

He has to ignore her no matter how much he doesn’t want to. This way, Sakura will like him better like the girl who admire Itachi.

Sakura furrows her eyebrows. “I’ll take that as a yes then.”

Damn it! It’s supposed to be read as a negative answer. But he’s ignoring her so he can’t say anything to her.

Sakura grabs his wrist and his heart jumps.

“Wh- wha-”

She’s holding his hand!

His plan is working!

“Let’s go.”

And now they’re by the trees. Alone.

Is she going to confess?

Aren’t they going too fast though? Shouldn’t they get to know each other first? She has to meet his mom too.

“Sasuke,” Sakura starts. “Your mom said that you gave me that bento last week. And that you helped make it?” She sounds unsure.

Oh! She has already met his mo-

Wait, _what_? His mom said that?

Traitor!

But says, “Hn.” instead.

_Ignore ignore ignore._

Because it’s working! Look how Sakura is speaking to him again.

She digs her toe onto the ground. “I want to say thank you.”

And now for his special attack: act like he doesn’t care. Because that worked great with Itachi with those girls.

“I don’t care,” Sasuke says, blushing, hoping that Sakura will finally accept him as a friend.

She hits him on the head.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I always giggle whenever I write this. Oh Sasuke.


End file.
